1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates apparatus for separating waste liquid and solid material and is useful, for example, for removing liquid from a mixture of biological waste material and sludge and compressing and extruding the thus-separated solid material.
More particularly, the present invention is useful, for example, for the treatment of biological waste and sludge by dewatering and composting to form fertilizer, and for the conversion of waste water into usable water or even into drinking water, and may be employed for the treatment of waste, in waste treatment plants, from municipal sewerage systems, industrial sewage treatment plants, and other sources of human and animal waste, for example slaughter houses, hospitals and other buildings, greenhouses and other agricultural installations. The present apparatus may be connected to or separate from sewers and is useful both in fixed installations and in mobile waste treatment apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the treatment of waste water, it is known to use a screen in the form of a cylindrical basket formed by axially-spaced circular bars to separated liquids and solids. The screen is disposed with its longitudinal axis inclined and a mixture of the liquids and solids is fed into the interior of the screen through the lower end of the cylindrical basket, which is open and is located at a suitable level in a waste water flow channel or the like.
An auger, which is co-axial with the screw, extends upwardly, through and beyond the upper end of the cylindrical basket, and is provided in a tube which, in the basket, has an opening in the top of the tube through which material screened by the basket can be deposited into the auger. The interior of the cylindrical basket is provided with a rake, which rotates around the basket to collect solid material caught on the interior of the bars and to deflect this material through the tube opening into the auger for conveyance by the auger along the tube to the upper end of the tube, where the solid material is discharged downwardly into, e.g., a truck or other container.